Bugs and Bites

I am finally done scratching and it occurred to me I did not write at all about bugs and bites while I in Guatemala. I suspect it has to do with coping with what you have to while on the ground. I wanted to share this, not because it was terrible or hugely difficult, but because it is a reality.

Shortly after we got settled in our houses in Santiago I started waking up with bites on my legs, arms and back. The first day or two I just ignored them. Hey, I was new to the country and lots of things were different. When I did eventually mention them to some of the people I was living with they said – you have bed bugs. Horrors!!! What to do?

Thank goodness for Jo who travels with tea tree oil and a spray bottle. A few drops in water and a good spray of all the bed linen every night managed the bugs. They did not stop completely but one or two bites every now and then was manageable. Jo lent me the bottle and I faithfully sprayed every bed I slept in just before bed each night.

I returned the bottle to her three weeks before we were heading home. I was now settled in a new spot and confident that there were no beg bugs. Error! No sooner had the bottle left my possession than I was getting a new kind of bite. Itchier and with more staying power. A few questions to some of the teachers I was working with told me I was now dealing with fleas – presumably from the dog living at the house I was staying at.

So, off I went to find tea tree oil and a spray bottle (that was a bit of a challenge and I ended up having to buy a small bottle of hairspray, dump it out, clean it with hot water multiple times before making my oil/water concoction). The poor dog was banished to the out of doors and was still living with a flea collar when I left.

And did I mention the scorpion? Greg had been warning us to check our bed linen and shoes because scorpions will crawl in and their bites are painful. One of my colleagues had one sleeping on his pillow which thankfully he discovered before he crawled into bed, so I became I bit more vigilant and thankfully so. I found one settled nicely into my bed linens when I checked into Paul’s Posada. Unfortunately for the scorpion he did not make it out of my bedroom – alive anyway.

So bugs and bites are real and especially in the unsanitized reality of the developing world. Ann just as importantly dealing with them is a small price to pay for the rewards which come in building relationships and understanding the world in new ways.

Best, Colleen